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Payroll Employees: 4 Ways UEBA Can Help Detect Suspicious Behavior

Posted on
14 July 2016

When hiring someone to work in a payroll department, they are granted access to sensitive data for your company. Digital company data can include banking information, account information, and personal employee information. It's important to keep this data protected through threat detection software. Along with traditional virus software, you can have UEBA software installed to detect personal threats and suspicious activity from payroll worker accounts. UEBA stands for user and entity behavior analytics and this type of software can be used for to help detect four types of behaviors that go beyond a typical virus or cyber attack. By implementing the software for your payroll workers, you can improve security and prevent issues before they occur.

Account Access Origin Points

When someone is accessing the payroll account, it should typically only occur at your company. UEBA software has the ability to monitor specific accounts and see where they are accessing the account from. If someone's account has been compromised, the threat detection software can pick up on different access points and alert you to the situation. Protocols can be set in to help lock down the account and determine how it is being accessed. Along with outside threats, UEBA software can detect if your own employees are trying to access payroll accounts from outside the office. The tracking data can determine the source of the suspicious activity and allow you to find a proper solution.

Time of Day Access

Payroll workers are typically set on the same shift each week. These shift parameters can be synchronized to UEBA tracking software. This means that if someone is trying to access the software off work hours, you can easily be alerted so that the sensitive data remains protected. For example, if an employee returns to the office during after-work hours, you can be alerted about the suspicious activity. This can help prevent account tampering or the attempt to steal data. The specificity of a UEBA system allows each person to have individual tracking as the software learns movements. For example, if a person has the same lunch break everyday, you can be send an alert if the account is used extensively during the scheduled lunch break. It could be something innocent, but a change in typical patterns could be a big sign that something suspicious is occurring and is worth looking into.

Behavioral Patterns

A payroll schedule is typically the same week after week. After just a few weeks, UEBA software can have a steady flow of data that is used by payroll workers. This allows you to get security alerts when behavior is drastically changing. For example, someone in the payroll may be accessing a lot of personal bank account information. If this is against the norm, then it is worth looking into after an alert has been sent out. Another type of behavioral change may include changes to accounts within the payroll. Threat alerts can be detected if major changes are tracked through hourly wages, bonuses, or other parts of a paycheck. By using UEBA software, you can track the account that made the changes and the exact changes that were made.

Account Privileges

When setting up a digital employee account, each employee has specific privileges when accessing software and information. One way that UEBA can detect threats is if the account is continuously trying to access privileges that are not granted. The account may be trying to access sensitive data or bank accounts. Too many access attempts on different areas of your company's server will send an instant alert. The UEBA software can feature an individual profile for each user so that it understands the parameters and what type of access is granted.

Contact computer services company for more information on implementing a UEBA system into your company and the payroll department. Check out websites like https://www.stealthbits.com/ to get started.